Topeka ? Senators were preparing to debate several school finance proposals to see which ideas have legs in their chamber, while critics hoped to undermine support among Johnson County legislators for a $633 million plan approved by the House.

The debate was scheduled for today, nearly a week after the House passed its plan. Senate leaders hoped the chamber could assemble a school finance package by the weekend to give negotiators a start at drafting a compromise in the coming weeks.

Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt said the goal was to see whether any option has the support of 21 of the 40 senators to move the school finance debate closer to conclusion. Legislators plan to take a break at the end of Friday’s debate, until late April.

“It has taken a long time this session to focus minds on the choices and trade-offs we’re going to have to make to get a school finance bill passed,” said Schmidt, R-Independence. “We’re at a point where I think the only way to get additional focus is to start voting.”

Three bills are on the Senate’s debate calendar. One is the House plan; another is a $660 million plan from Senate leaders, and the third is a $481 million plan from Sen. Jim Barnett.

“If none of these plans has 21 votes, we need to know that. Because so far, people have been unwilling to talk about other options, because they are wedded to one of these three choices,” Schmidt said.

Legislators face a mandate from the Kansas Supreme Court to increase school spending to fulfill a constitutional requirement to provide adequate funding. Last year, legislators increased spending 10 percent, or $290 million, to more than $3 billion.

None of the plans identifies a source of revenues to support the new school spending, and senators have rejected a bill to expand gambling. Schmidt said voting for a school plan isn’t designed to reopen the gambling debate, but senators need to realize whatever they pass on education has budget implications in future years.

“I don’t think it is responsible to pass a bill that spends us into gallons of red ink,” Schmidt said.

There is a chance that none of the bills will pass and a smaller package will emerge, and legislators will have to start the process anew in 2007.

But a smaller package could face opposition from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and her fellow Democrats, who were involved in talks that began early in the session.

“The only way we’re going to know that is to have the debate and decide,” Schmidt said.